Washington & Lee?

Lenny (or others) -- what's the social life like there? i'll be 26 when i start and, although i like to drink socially, i'm a little past the frat scene type atmosphere. is the social life drinking centered? are most of the students fresh out of college? are they pretty mature? is the student body intellectual?

Lenny (or others) -- what's the social life like there? i'll be 26 when i start and, although i like to drink socially, i'm a little past the frat scene type atmosphere. is the social life drinking centered? are most of the students fresh out of college? are they pretty mature? is the student body intellectual?

Social life is alco-centric, in general. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as "frat-like," though. There are a lot of school-sanctioned drinking events (a Halloween party last night, for instance, and IM football). It's more of a definite "party hard, play hard" attitude, for sure. There are plenty of people here that don't drink, though, and plenty of people that don't drink very much.

As for the stats on students fresh out of college, I don't know numbers, but quite a few took some time off to work/get other degrees/chill. Maturity level is subjective, as is intellectual prowess, but you basically have a full spectrum on that end wherever you go. Sometimes the two are mutually exclusive, as I've heard many a nuanced interpretations of UCC provisions used as a punchline for a sex joke. All in all, I think the admissions office does a good job of not just getting smart people, but getting interesting ones as well. Most everyone is very smart, but also well-rounded.

Lenny (or anyone else at W&L familiar with the issue)--thank you for the input. Do you know, generally, how deep into the class biglaw in NYC or DC will go?

The class of 2009 has had incredible success in getting Vault-ranked (including V10) biglaw NY offers. For whatever reason our predecessors had terrible luck in securing NY biglaw. I was told by upperclassmen that these top firms only recruited top 15% law review students. This year, however, NY biglaw is recruiting DEEP into our class. I know someone in the bottom half and another in the bottom third with no law review/journal that secured biglaw NY (i'm seriously not exaggerating). I don't know if this will be a trend or if it's some sort of anomaly but my class has had INCREDIBLE success in NY. However, keep in mind that my classmates are very friendly people and probably perform very well during interviews (AND WE'RE DEAD SEXAY... well some of us... not including myself). If you think you'll place in the bottom quarter of the class and you're socially retarded, NY will be difficult.

Also, the W&L/W&M NY Job Fair takes place about 2 weeks before the fall semester begins. You get invited for callbacks usually within 48 hours to a week. If you schedule your callback very early you can get a NY biglaw offer within the first week of school. I received a biglaw NY offer a week before school began and a lot of my classmates received theirs within the first week of school. Also, do not worry that Lexington is so far away from NY. When you are invited for a callback interview, the firm is REQUIRED to pay for your round-trip plane tickets, put your ass up in a very very nice hotel, and reimburse you for lunch/dinner. It is still a bit annoying because you need to skip class and plane rides are never very fun but it's certainly manageable.

The only problem I can see is that our Office of Career Planning has experienced a complete overhaul. Two of our recruiting coordinators left and the replacement is brand new. I'm sure the W&L/W&M NYC job fair and OCI will continue but this could cause slight problems... or maybe none at all.

If you have any further questions about NY job prospects feel free to PM me and i'll try give you job search experience or maybe put you into contact with other classmates with NY offers.

I have NO idea how the OCI or other job fairs have panned out for us so unfortunately I can't answer that. I can tell you that it's really cold outside and I should probably close my window... which i will do right now.

PS: I am aware that our predecessors have had very poor placement. I used to think there was a problem with the school but i'm starting to realize that it may have been a problem with upperclassmen performing poorly during interviews or not putting enough effort into the job search.

Job opportunities for you: [warning--evasive answer ahead] Success depends on a constellation of factors, the most important of which seem to be (in no particular order):

-grades (primarily law, but undergrad honors looks good too, as does a strong undergrad institution), -law review, -connections to a geographical area, -alignment of your interest with the employer's practice areas, and -interviewing skill.

I was strong in the first two, horrible in the last two (I have neither specified interests nor interviewing skillz), and did very well in Chicago (where I have geographical ties) and also have a great offer in Boston (where I have no ties). Ironically, I applied to three small/mid-sized markets in the southeast and did horribly in each of them, probably because they're looking for people who are more focused on those markets.

--------------------------------Job opportunities for significant others: the administration really works with SOs to help them find the best work available for them. This may involve school administration, but the unemployment rate around here is insanely low, and there's a shortage of educated workers, so when jobs arise that require a college degree, SOs are generally some of the best qualified candidates around.---------------------------------

Overall experience: love it, a great place to spend 3 years. It helps if you like sports, drinking and/or the outdoors, but even if you don't it's a great academic environment in a serene setting.